Northwestern played solidly in all facets of the game against an undermanned Robert Morris squad and came away with a 78-49 victory on Wednesday night. While the final score doesn't really matter, what's important is that the Wildcats showed improvement in every facet of the game necessary to compete for an NCAA Tournament berth.
In addition to its usually stellar ball-handling (24 assists to just 7 turnovers for the game), Northwestern crashed the boards, showed it's sophomores are all grown up and starting to replace Craig Moore.
The Wildcats finished with 51 rebounds in the game, including 18 offensive rebounds on 40 missed shots - a very strong offensive rebounding rate of 45 percent. Hitting the boards was a team effort. Sophomore forward John Shurna led the team with seven, but five players had at least five rebounds. Kevin Coble finished with 15 points and six rebounds in 23 minutes.
Shurna's strong rebounding effort was a reflection of his excellent overall game. Coming off of a summer during which he got valuable experience with Team USA's U-19 squad, the sophomore showed he's ready to be a consistent scorer this season. Shurna had 21 points on 8-13 shooting. He was assertive about going into the post and also stepped outside to hit three of five from beyond the arc.
"Anytime you get to against big players and big athletes like, you learn not only how to get rebounds around them, but you're watching these guys too and how they get rebounds as well," Shurna said.
While fellow sophomore Kyle Rowley didn't play, two others - Luka Mirkovic and Davide Curletti - were impressive in his absence. Mirkovic displayed a variety of good post moves and finished with eight points and six rebounds in 20 minutes. Mirkovic also displayed the passing that made him such an important cog in the Princeton offense during his freshman season.
"I just like that he rebounded out there," said head coach Bill Carmody. "It seemed like he was getting two-handed rebounds which is always nice to see. It wasn't like he was by himself."
Curletti played 15 minutes. He shot 1-5, including 0-3 from beyond the arc, but grabbed six rebounds and had two assists. Curletti doesn't need to score to be an important part of the Wildcat's rotation. While tonight's exhibition gave him the opportunity to fill a different role at times, chances are he won't take five shots again in one game all season.
Another key will be replacing the outside shooting of Moore. Northwestern's three-point shooting was a tale of two halves on Monday. The Wildcats shot 5-11 in the first half, but slumped to 4-20 in the second. The overall percentage of 29 percent isn't pretty, but it's important to note that Shurna and Coble went a combined 6-9. Michael Thompson shouldn't have many nights were he goes 0-4 either.
The night wasn't perfect for Northwestern. While the sophomore's thrived, Drew Crawford and Alex Marcotullio had many moments where they looked like freshman. Crawford, who started the game, committed five fouls in 20 minutes of action. He grabbed two rebounds and scored four points on two of six shooting. On one possession he grabbed an offensive rebound only to be rejected twice in the paint by the older, stronger Robert Morris players. He has a lot of learning to do, but luckily for him, unlike Shurna a year ago, Crawford won't be expected to contribute consistently on offense right away.
"I think as the year goes on the more they get used to the offense and our style of play I think they'll be able to help us out a lot," Shurna said.
Finally, the search for a backup point guard continues, but the early favorite has to be Jeff Ryan. Ryan played 19 minutes, including some at point guard, and finished with a very solid line of seven points, four rebounds and four assists. While Ryan can play all over the court, he might be most valuable as Thompson's primary backup.
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Tags: Alex Marcotullio, Davide Curletti, Drew Crawford, Jeff Ryan, John Shurna, Luka Mirkovic, Northwestern
Any sense of who will be the go to guy in crunch time? Obviously, NU didn't face a crunch time against RMU, but NU's inability to get easy points suggests that NU will frequently face crunch time.
After the game Kevin Coble mentioned John Shurna's shot last season against Ohio State, and I thought that was a telling moment. Craig Moore was the go-to-guy last season and I think you're going to see Shurna step into that role. He seems to enjoy taking those shots. Though if Carmody needs a big basket this season my guess is he originally draws the play up for Coble. Coble just has so many moves around the basket. But those two would be my guess.